Process for proofing hats of straw and the like and said product.



H. P. PEARSON.

PROCESS FOR PROFING HATS 0F STRAW AND THE LIKE AND SAID PRODUCT.

APPucATwu HLED JAN-15,1912.

Patented Sept. 5, 1916.

J fan IMF Me sea jrer. mason M a atfarnew.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERBERT P. PEARSON, OF LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO CRAVENETTE (10., U. S. A, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

PROCESS FOR PROOFING HATS OF STRAW AND THE LIKE AND SAID PRODUCT.

Application filed January 15, 1912.

'0 all arr/1.0m it may concern Be it known that I, IInnuEu'r PINK PEAR- soN, a subject of the King of England, residing at 22 Basinghall street, London, E. (1., England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes for Proofing Hats of Straw and the like and Said Product, of which the following is a clear, full, and exact description.

This invention relates to the manufacture of hats of straw, chip (hast) and like materials and has for its particular object an improved method of finishing the same for the purpose of making them waterproof and capable of being washed. In the manufacture of hats of this kind it is customary to soak the hat in an aqueous solution of gelatin and after drying, to shape it by pressure at a temperature at which the gelatin is softened. The gelatin when the hat is dried imparts to the material of which the hat is composed the stiffness necessary to retain its shape and also gives it a smooth finish. An objection to a hat of this char acter is that when it is exposed to rain, water penetrates into and dissolves or softens the gelatin, causing the latter to swell so that the hat loses its shape and crispness. Attempts have been made to provide such hats with a finish which is impervious to water and it has previously been proposed to treat them with a gum or collodion varnish for the purpose of making them waterproof.

A film of collodion or nitrocellulose protects the gelatin to a certain extent from the softening action of water, but it does not prevent water from clinging to the hat, which water will gradually soak through in spite of the film of nitro-cellulose. It has also been proposed to render the gelatin insoluble in water by adding to the gelatin solution in which the hat is soaked formaldehyde or substances which liberate formaldehyde during the shaping operation. It has been found however, that the use of formaldehyde-holding agents alters the gelatin in such a way as to make it gummy and rubber-like, so that difficulties occur in the shaping operations and the hat is not so crisp as it would be if treated with the ordinary gel atin solution alone.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 5, 1916.

Serial No. 671,258.

In the present process, these prior disad vantages are avoided by treating a hat which has been previously stiffened and shaped by the aid of gelatin in the ordinary way, with waxes or substances similar to waxes such as paraiiin wax, ceresin wax, beeswax, carnauba wax, Japan wax, stearic acid, or stearln, all generically termed by me as wax-like substances. These wax-like substances have the effect of preventing water from clinging to the hat and of causing rain drops to immediately run off. After the application of the wax-like substance, the hat is preferably coated with an additional waterproof varnish, which both assists in the shedding of the water from the hat and also protects the wax-like substance from the softening influence of the sun.

In the drawing, the figure is a conventional illustration of a straw hat, treated in accordance with the present invention.

H represents the hat soaked and stiffened in the usual gelatin solution.

A indicates the preliminary coating of wax-like substance, and B indicates an outer film of a cellulose compound which acts like a varnish. It should be understood, however, that in an actual hat treated by this process the different coatings of wax-like substance and nitro-cellulose compound, although preferably applied separately as hereinafter described, do not necessarily appear as separately applieddayers inthe resultant film. In other words, the line of demarcation between the separately applied layers of wax-like substance and cellulose compound is not necessarily as clear as that illustrated in the drawing, and it might be hard to determine in the finished product whether the waterproofed film upon a hat were made up of separately applied layers of wax-like substance and cellulose compound, or of one layer containing the wax-like substance and cellulose compound previously mixed in some common solvent.

In carrying out the present process, the hat is first soaked in a suitable size such as a hot gelatin solution containing the usual bleaching materials, and is afterward shaped by pressure and the application of heat in a. manner now well known and practised in the art. A hat thus prepared is then evenly coated with the wax-like substance, baked in an oven at a temperature above that at which the wax-like substance melts, so that it will be absorbed by the straw fiber of the hat. After cooling to a sufiicient degree to allow the wax-like substance to harden, the hat is further treated with a waterproof varnish which may be any cellulose compound which is soluble in acetone, such as, for instance, cellulose acetone, or cellulose ester, or nitro-cellulose, and the hat is then finally dried and finished.

The wax-like substance may be applied to the hat in any convenient way ;for instance, the hat may be painted or sprayed with a solution of paratlin wax, or the waxlike substance while in a molten condition may be sprayed onto the hat, and the cellulose compound may be similarly applied by spraying it, While in solution, onto the hat. I have found that very satisfactory results are obtained by the use of parafiin wax melting at a temperature of approximately 54 centigrade, but the other waxes above mentioned also give satisfaction. It is preferred for a straw hat of average size to employ about 6 drams of wax and about 35 drams of a nitro-cellulose solution, which, when dried, leaves about 1% drams of nitro-cellu lose in the form of a film.

Although preferable, it is not absolutely necessary in the practice of this invention to apply the wax coating upon the hat prior to the application of the cellulose compound, since fairly satisfactory results may be obtained by applying first the waterproof film of the cellulose compound, such as nitrocellulose dissolved in acetone and then later applying the wax thereto. It will be found in this manner of carrying out the process, that the wax will permeate more or less into the film of the cellulose compound and give the same a capacity for shedding water. The advantage, however, of applying the wax coating first to the hat is that the cellulose compound film when afterward applied, protects the wax film more completely' from the effects of the suns rays.

Hats of straw and similar materials when treated in accordance with this invention are practically waterproof, and the effect of the wax-like substance is to prevent the water from clinging to the hat as it does to a hat which has been waterproofed with a nitro-cellulose varnish alone, and the hat retains the same stiffness as when finished with the latin m'ze alone.

I wish it to be understood that the particular details of my process as heretofore described, may be variedwithout departing from the spirit of my invention, and accordingly I desire to have the following claims broadly interpreted so as to cover the 2 full scope of my improvement.

What I claim is:

1. The process of Waterproofing hats of straw and the like, which consists in applyingsthereto a surface coating of a wax-like su tance so that the same is absorbed by the straw fiber of the hat, and separately applying a surface coating of some cellulose compound which is characterized in acetone.

2. The process of waterproofin hats of straw and the like, which consists in applying thereto a surface coating of a wax-like su stance so that the same is absorbed by the straw fiber of the hat, and separately applying a surface coating of some cellulose compound which is characterized in acetone, said wax-like substance being applied in larger quantity than said cellulose compound. 3. The process of waterproofing hats of straw and the like, which consists in applying thereto a surface coating of a wax-like substance so that the same is absorbed by the straw fiber of the hat and separately applyin a surface coating of a solution of nitro-ce ulose.

4. The process of waterproofing straw hats and the like, which consists in first impregnating said straw with a solution of gelatin allowin the same to stifl'en therein, and then applying thereto a surface coating of a wax-like substance so that the same is absorbed by the straw fiber of the hat, and separately applying a surface coating of some cellulose compound which is characterized by its solubility in acetone.

5. As an article of manufacture, a straw hat having upon its outer surface a waterproofed film comprising a wax-like substance and some compound of cellulose which is characterized by its solubility in acetone.

6. As an article of manufacture, a straw hat having upon its outer surface a waterproofed film comprising a wax-like substance and nitro-cellulose.

7. As an article of manufacture, a straw hat having upon its outer surface a waterproofed film comprising a wax-like substance and some compound of cellulose which is characterized by its solubility in acetone, the quantity of the wax-like substance in said waterproofed film being greater than said cellulose compound.

8. As an article of manufacture, a straw hat having upon its outer surface a waterproofed film comprising a wax-like substance and some compound of cellulose which is characterized by its solubility in acetone, the approximate pro ortions being four parts of the wax-like substance to one part of the cellulose compound.

9. As an article of manufacture, a straw hat impregnated with a gelatin size and having upon its outer surface a waterproofed film comprising a wax-like substance and some compound of cellulose Signed at New York city, New York this which is characterized by its solubility in 12th day of January, 1912. acetone, the quantity of the wax-like sub- HERBERT P. PEARSON.

stance in said film being substantially Witnesses: greater than the quantity of cellulose oom- BEATRICE Mmvrs, pound. ABRAM BERNSTEIN.

stance and some compound of cellulose hich is characterized b g ed at Ne Y its 1 b W ork mt N acetone, the quantity of the w x lil r d gi th day of January, 1912 ew York fins stance in s id fil b HERBE 5 greater than the q n itg d c l l l sg 2 32 5 y' esses: ON.

P und. BEATRICE Mfiw ABRAM BERNSTEIN It is hereby" certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,197,304, granted Septercber 5, v 1'9l6, unon the epplication ci Herbert YhPeaIrsom-oFLondonJ England, for an 4 imnrovement in Processes for Proofing Hats 0f Straw and the like and Said lrodnctfl errors appear in the printed s pecificetion requiring correction as follows: Page 2, line claim 1, sarne page, line 79, claim 2, before the word cellulose the word dissolved} same page, line 73, claim 1, and line 80,claim 2, after the word cheracterize insert the words by its solubility; end that the said Letters Patent should be read rvith these correctichs therein that the same may conform to record of the case in the Patent Ofiice. I

S igned and sealed this 3d day of October, D'., 1916.

{B n i A I F. w. 11 CLAY,

I 1' Acting Commissioner of Patents.

ions in Letters W No. 1,191,304.

Correct It is hereby certified thatin Letters Patent No. 1,197,304, granted September 5, 1916, upon the application of Herbert P. Pearson, of London, England, for an improvement in Processes for Proofing Hats of Straw and the like and Said Product, errors appear in the printed specification requiring correction as follows:

Page 2, line 72, claim 1, sarne page, line 79, claim 2, before the word cellulose" insert the word dissolved; same page, line 73, claim 1, and line 80, claim 2, after the word characterized insert the words by its solubility; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 3d day of October, A. D., 1916.

[SEALJ F. W. H. CLAY,

Acting Commissioner f Patents. 

